This invention relates to the improvement in an apparatus for blowing foundry sand into a molding machine for molding a core. It especially relates to molding machines wherein vertically divided metal molds for shell sand or cold-box-process core sand are used, and wherein the position at which sand is blown into molds is changeably constituted. It also relates to a blow squeeze apparatus for a molding machine to which an additional set of equipment is added for treating gases with a smell that are generated when shell sand is fired to prepare dry sand.
As shown in general in FIG. 1, the conventional blow squeeze apparatus is constituted such that a tank 21 for storing sand, a connector 23, an air-supply/exhaust valve 25, and an air tank 27 are connected via a piston rod 22 and conduits 24,26. In the thus-constituted conventional blow-squeeze apparatus, since the distance between the air tank 27 and sand tank 21 is long, the entire apparatus is bulky, a large loss of pressure in the compressed air exists therebetween, and a large-volume air tank is needed to provide a needed amount of compressed air.
The conventional blow squeeze apparatus, as is shown in Japanese Patent Early-publication No. 51-43973, is constituted such that the entire stand frame on which molding machine mechanisms are installed can be slid together. Therefore, the conventional blow squeeze apparatus has disadvantages in that the sliding portion has complex structures, a large scale of equipment is needed, and a number of processes are needed to adjust the position at which sand is blown.
The conventional shell machine equipped with an apparatus for treating gases with a smell is generally constituted such that a hood is fixed just above each of a plurality of the machines, and that gases with a smell which are generated from each machine are transported via a guide tube or a suction pipe to a separate means disposed outside the factory for treating them. Since the means for treating gases with a smell must carry a large volume of the air in addition to the gases from the machines over a long distance, the loss of pressure during the transportation becomes large and the apparatus for treating gases with a smell, including the mechanism for absorbing them, becomes large and costly.
This invention has been made considering the above-mentioned problems. An object of this invention is to provide a molding machine having a simple structure, wherein the position in a metal mold at which foundry sand is blown thereinto can be easily changed.
Another object of this invention is to provide a blow-squeeze molding machine. It has a means for treating gases with a smell used for a shell machine, which is equipped with a compact, cheap, and separate hood, and wherein the loss of pressure during the transportation of the gases can be kept small.
To achieve the above purposes the apparatus according to an embodiment of this invention for blowing foundry sand into molds for a molding machine comprises a tank disposed movably up and down for storing foundry sand, and having an opening that passes through the upper part of the tank for supplying the sand, a nozzle that passes through the bottom part of the tank, an empty chamber that occupies the central part of the tank, and an exhaust valve placed on the empty chamber; a tank for storing compressed air disposed just above a mold movably up and down above the sand-storing tank, and having an opening that passes through the bottom part of the compressed air tank for blowing compressed air, wherein when the sand tank is lowered and abuts the sand tank, the sand-supplying opening communicating with the compressed air-blowing opening so that the foundry sand is blown through the nozzle by the compressed air from the compressed air-blowing opening; and means disposed in the compressed air tank for opening and closing the compressed air-blowing opening.
The thus-constituted blow-squeeze apparatus can supply the compressed air stored in the compressed air tank into the sand tank by opening the opening and closing means after making the compressed-air opening abut the sand-supplying opening.
The apparatus according to an embodiment of this invention for adapting a position at which foundry sand is blown into metal molds in a molding machine comprises a stationary member 35 for adjustably fixing the position of a first vertically-divided mold to adapt the position of the divided mold to the position of the blow-squeeze nozzle and a sliding member 36 for disposing a second vertically-divided mold such that the second vertically-divided mold that corresponds to the first vertically-divided mold is slid to be aligned with the first vertically-divided mold.
The thus-constituted apparatus for adapting the blow-squeeze position can easily move left and right and adjust a metal mold-installing member that installs the stationary and divided piece of the metal molds such that the blow-squeeze position of the metal molds corresponds to the sand-discharging opening of the blow-squeeze apparatus, namely, the sand-discharging nozzle.
The apparatus according to an embodiment of this invention for treating gases with a smell used for a shell machine comprises a hood for covering almost the entire shell machine, means disposed adjacent to the hood for treating the gases with a smell, a mechanism for absorbing the gases in the hood and for feeding them to the gas-treating means, and a guide tube connected to the gas-absorbing mechanism for guiding the gases fed from the gas-absorbing mechanism to the gas-treating means.
In the thus-constituted apparatus for treating gases with a smell, the gases with a smell generated in the shell machine are passed through the hood and the guide tube by the absorbing operation of the gas-absorbing mechanism, and then they are sent to the gas-treating means so that they are burnt or treated to be deodorized.